When Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke showed up for a photo-op at a construction site near the Zoo Interchange on Tuesday, it provided for an incongruous visual. As giant machines moved mountains of dirt behind her, there stood Burke, dressed smartly in a business suit and heels. And while little is known of Burke's shoes, it quickly became clear that one fits comfortably in her mouth.

Asked whether she agrees with Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn's contention that legislative Republicans are more interested in passing laws dealing with who can vote than addressing handgun violence, Burke took the bait. "Well, I think from what we have seen and the bills that have been passed," she said, "yes, it does appear like they take voter suppression more seriously than the violence suppression."

Gov. Scott Walker quickly deemed Burke's claim "hogwash." (Sadly, he passed over balderdash, poppycock and horse feathers.) But there's another word for Burke's contention, and it emanates from a much larger animal.

It is unclear what bill Republicans could have passed over the past four years that would have "suppressed" inner city violence. But it takes a special brand of tendentiousness to stand in a city governed by a Democratic mayor, Democratic county district attorney and liberal county executive, and blame statewide Republicans for violence in Milwaukee.

Burke's pre-cooked comments came shortly after a "Ceasefire Week" in Milwaukee that saw a rash of shootings in the city. Just days earlier, 10-year-old Sierra Guyton was shot while playing at the Clark Street Elementary School playground, leaving her critically wounded. Sylvester Lewis, 18, has been charged in the shooting.

Any piece of legislation Republicans could have passed that would have prevented Sierra from being shot is purely a figment of Burke's imagination. Burke evidently has forgotten 2009 and 2010, when Democrats controlled the state Legislature and her former boss, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, occupied the executive branch. Somehow, a state government fully controlled by liberals wasn't able to pass a magic "don't shoot kids on playgrounds" law.

If Burke weren't so intent on scoring political points off of recent tragedies, she might learn a few things about the city's crime problem from Walker, who served for seven years as Milwaukee County executive. In a 2011 interview with a Madison newspaper, Burke expressed how unhappy she was in Milwaukee in the late 1980s after living in New York and Washington, D.C. "I'd been living in big cities for a while," she told the paper. "It was like, 'Wow, what am I doing here?'"

But now that her gubernatorial campaign requires her to locate Milwaukee on a map, Burke is evidently in touch with the violent pathologies that plague portions of the city.

Shortly after Sierra's shooting, Flynn urged lawmakers to make it a felony to illegally carry a firearm; but the alleged shooter was already a convicted felon, and it was already a felony for him to possess a gun. There may be some merit in increasing penalties for illegally carrying a firearm, but such a change would likely have no effect on someone already undeterred by the threat of a felony.

We now know that despite only being 18, Lewis had been arrested 15 times; most recently, he was convicted of a felony burglary charge that could have brought him 121/2 years in custody. Instead, prosecutors suggested a lenient sentence with scant jail time, before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean DiMotto granted him even more leniency, allowing Lewis to avoid any prison time if he essentially promised to stay out of trouble.

A second man arrested in connection with the shooting was convicted a decade ago of shooting and killing a 17-year-old boy just one block from where the Clarke Street playground. He served a little more than seven years in prison.

Clearly, the laws exist to keep habitual criminals off the streets. But the lack of adequate sentencing and enforcement now has come back to haunt the justice system. This is a fact that apparently has been ignored by those who need better talking points.

Burke could have answered the question about inner city violence with dignity; she could have recognized, as any thinking individual does, that the violent culture in urban areas is an intractable problem that has vexed both political parties for decades. Instead, she employed all the tact of an anonymous Twitter user, hijacking news of a tragic event to play politics.

Gun violence is a gargantuan issue, and by using it to take cheap shots at her opponents, Burke now looks smaller as a result.